Nicholas Creamery — Restaurant in Atlantic Highlands

Absolutely delicious. The Millennial Chum and I stopped by this past Saturday afternoon on her recommendation after a nearby lunch. This is my kind of ice cream place - verging on hipster, with unique flavors that require an extra few minutes of hemming and hawing because there are tons of legit options. This was a rare instance where I was completely okay with there being a few customers in line ahead of us to give me more time to make a decision.

There were a few strong contenders but I ultimately ordered one of their small batch options, Taliercio's Italian Cookie. I'd...make that a flavor year-round. I'm a big fan of Italian cookies in general (my favorite is probably the anisettes), and one of the main reasons is their emphasis on almond extract. I didn't notice or confirm any anisette cookies in there, but I'm pretty sure I spied and/or tasted a few rainbows and butter cookies. It's a great flavor, and the cookies tasted fresh. In my experience from getting, say, a cookie dough-type flavor, the only potential problem that can arise is if the cookies are stale or the consistency is off from the ice cream. Not here. Perfect and tasty. The Millennial Chum went with one of their "normal" flavors, coincidentally their version of the cookie dough with brown sugar, and was enormously pleased.

One big caveat here - they ARE cash only and have an ATM on the premises. In fact, the initial reason we stopped here was because we planned to go to an estate sale and the Millennial Chum needed to use said ATM to ensure we had some viable legal tender for that event. We didn't end up even going to do that, but I'd say plan B was a lot better and more...

I like ice cream. Who doesn't? But this is next level. I went in expecting not to be impressed. So wrong.

There are so many places to get good ice cream around here. And everyone has their favorite. So how could Nicholas Creamery bring anything new to the table? Well, it does.

These flavors are so vibrant. Sure, ice cream is flavorful, but the ingredients here are fresh and distinctive. The cream tastes more like cream and less sugary or salty.

The staff was accommodating and let us sample everything. So many good choices. A couple of basics but mostly new flavor combinations. Wildest was Kentucky Pig which mixed chocolate, bourbon and bacon. Crazy, but awesome.

We had the Jersey Blueberry, Coffee, Cookies & Cream with salted caramel and Butter Pecan. All got passed around. All exceeded our expectations. We talked the entire way home about what we tasted and how having a bonafide chef making flavor decisions definitely makes a difference. OMG. This place has damn good ice cream.

And the fresh, WARM waffle cones?!? So good. Our new favorite for ice Cream. $3.50 for a...

Cash Only (minus half star)! I get it but this is a inconvenience experience for the customer and at times prevents sales. Especially, now with this pandemic lingering people are trying to avoid handling or exchanging cash because it is a sanitary issue (minus a star). With that said I am not going out of my way or getting back into line to visit an ATM. Except for that one time I needed a gift card, smh. I hate ATM fees! Moving on...

Pretty good creamery located in the heart of Atlantic Highlands. This is my fourth visit within the last three months. On my most recent visit we purchased three pints. It would have been four pints but my pockets were light. Each pint is just under $8. About half of the ice cream choices are on a seasonal rotation such as the pumpkin cheesecake, apple cider, and buttermilk fig. The customer service is good and the staff is polite. I believe everything is made locally in Tinton Falls and delivered daily to each store. 3.5 STARS but I will round up this one...